iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

I'm not sure I want mayonnaise that has an unknown binding.

Amazon product listiing for 30oz jar of Amazon-branded mayonnaise, priced at USD $2.79.
The listing looks reasonable, except that the description says in bold text "Unknown Binding"

🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

Everyone seems to think that "chiplet" technology is something new that AMD or Intel invented recently. Actually, IBM invented it at least as far back as 1987!

[ photo of an IBM 1 mibibit dynamic RAM chip encapsulated in transparent epoxy as a promotional item]

The newest IBM one-million-bit memory chip used in the IBM 3090 is now available as a [italic]chiplet[/italic] -- a dime-sized, epoxy-encapsulated [italic]real chip[/italic] with an adhesive back. Ask your IBM marketing representative for your [italic]free[/italic] megabit of memory today.
-- "The IBM 3090 Processor Family: A Balance of Technology and Design", G580-1005-0, July 1987

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2026

Four new-old-stock Amp 916557-3 ZIF PGA sockets, "Socket 7", for Pentium 75 MHz and up, Pentium MMX, AMD 5x86, K5, K6, and others. One of the four, lower right in photo, is missing a portion of the top plastic, but I don't think that will affect its usage.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026

Google AI says my KiCad PCB design for an AMD/Xilinx FPGA to use DDR3 memory will require $50Ω and $100Ω traces! And I'll need over a hundred of those! I can't afford that! Usually I get hundreds or thousands of traces for under $10 total per board! #AIslop #ddr3 #fpga

AI overview from Google search:

Designing a Xilinx FPGA/SoC to DDR3 interface in KiCad requires adhering to specific length-matching and routing constraints. Because DDR3 runs at high speeds, you must manage trace lengths, track impedance (typically $50Ω single-ended and $100Ω differential), and topology carefully before routing.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/06/2026

They insisted on putting a "Fun Pass" wristband on me. I protested that I'm allergic to fun, but they insisted anyhow. I'll probably have a terrible rash later.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/06/2026

When IBM invented the floppy disk, it was originally a read-only device used for loading microcode. Although it used an 8-inch floppy diskette (called a "cartridge"), it was not compatible with their later 8-inch read-write floppies. It spun at only 90 rpm […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

[illustrations are not described in detail, but represent the text]
CARTRIDGE HANDLING
* The disk cartridge contains information vital to system operation which may not be easily duplicated. HANDLE THE CARTRIDGE WITH CARE!
CAUTIONS
* No pens or pencils. Never write on disk cartridge. Writing pressure damages disk.
* No smoking while handling cartridges.
* Return cartridge to envelope whenever it is removed from the console file.
* Do not touch or clean the disk surface.
* Replace cartridge envelopes when they become worn, cracked, or distorted.
* Keep cartridge wawy from magnetic fiels or from ferromagnetic materials which might be magnetized.
* Do not expose cartridges to heat or sunlight.
* Store cartridges in their original shipping cartons, or in the storage rack on the access door.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/05/2026

I should have thought to post this photo on April 1.

[Movable-letter sign in front of building]
ASTRONAUTS USE
LINUX BECAUSE
YOU CANT OPEN
WINDOWS IN SPACE

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/04/2026

Here's an example. It's from the Am29705/05A/07 dual port RAM datasheet, though there's nothing particularly special about that. The I/O pin equivalent schematics are similar to any Schottky TTL I/O pins.

INPUT/OUTPUT CURRENT INTERFACE CONDITIONS
[transistor/diode/resistor equivalent schematics of Schottkey TTL input and output circuits, with arrows showing currents]
Note: Actual current flow direction shown.
[page number] 5-415

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026

I think I've managed to interest my local friend John Doran in my bit-slice computer project. In addition to being a very talented EE, he does great chassis design, including beautiful front panels:

Doran Engineering Z80/M computer
Custom-made 8-bit Z80 compatible microcomputer
Rack-mount chassis
Front panel with toggle switches and LEDs

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/04/2026

Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology “In the same way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it’s very, very important for the pope […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology

The vice president, who is Catholic, took issue with Pope Leo XIV's statement that disciples of Christ are "never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs."

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2026

For one very brief, glorious moment, I thought the Republicans might have finally become sensible and decided to end the Department of Homeland Security, but then I remembered that today is April Fools Day.

AP The Associated Press [follow link] [hamburger menu]
[photo of a politician]
"Republican leaders in Congress
announce plan to ending Homeland Sec..."

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/04/2026

I've only met one of these three humanoids. He _seemed_ like me might be safe & secure, but I really don't know him well enough to be certain. #hemanoids #security

[Email for Lattice News (Lattice Semiconductor)]
Lattice Security Seminar:
Humanoids: Are They Safe & Secure?
Security Expert Panel
[headshots of three male humanoids]
Steve Clark, Petr Shansheyeu, Eric Sivertson

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/03/2026

[a carefully-worded non-answer from the TrumpRx FAQ as of 2026-03-25] Is a pharmacy required to dispense a TrumpRx drug if reimbursement is below the pharmacy's cost? The listing of direct-to-patient price offerings on TrumpRx does not affect pharmacy obligations.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/03/2026

The three stages of life: 1. Birth 2. Two-Factor Authentication 3. Death [By Ben Messander]

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/02/2026

TI-150 calculator, from 1974. This is one of only two known handheld calculator models to use a Panaplex-style gas discharge display, though they were common on desktop calculators. Panaplex displays were obsoleted in the mid-1970s by vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs) and LEDs.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/01/2026

Back on the 1980s I thought "domino theory" was a bunch of BS. Later I changed my mind about that. What I totally did not expect, despite various times that the US has previously forced regime changes in other countries in the past, was that the US might be […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Screenshot from a CNN article:
"And Trump apparently feels emboldened by the Venezuela raid, telling reporters Sunday that Columbia is 'very sick' and that "Mexico has to get their act together.'"

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/01/2026

Tektronix includes in the 11301/11302 manual, under "physical characteristics", BOTH the weight and mass of the scope, in appropriate units: weight in Newtons and pounds, and mass in kilograms and slugs. I don't recall seeing this fone in any other equipment […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

An image of part of page 4-37 of the Tektronix 11301 and 11302 User's Reference Manual, showing part of table 4-3, Physical Characteristics

11302 weight is specified as 196 Newtons (44 lb) without plugins

11302 mass is specified as 19.96 kilograms (1.36 slugs)

11301 measurements are slightly higher

This is notable as most instruments are documented as having a weight in kilograms and pounds, which are not dimensionally consistent units (kilograms are NOT a unit of weight). Surprisingly, however, the conditions necessary for the weight measurement are not stated.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/01/2026

Here are two NOS Socket 4 PGA ZIF sockets for the original 5V P5 Pentium 60 and 66 Photographed on pink antistatic foam on top of a metalized mylar antistatic bag 272 actual contact pins, 21*21 grid using four outermost rows, plus one hole (273 total) at […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Two NOS Socket 4 PGA ZIF sockets for original 5V P5 Pentium 60 and 66
Photographed on pink antistatic foam on top of a metalized mylar antistatic bag
272 actual contact pins, 21*21 grid using four outermost rows, plus one hole (273 total) at position E5 for a locator pin to make insertion of the chip with incorrect orientation less likely

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/01/2026

Mathiputer model 44 logic board circuit side, with 8ncandescent indicator bulbs

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/01/2026

Mathiputer model 44 logic board component side, showing Fairchild F8 CPU and PSU chips, many passive, many transistors, a fee discrete LEDs, a few seven-segment LEDs, and some hand-made acrylic light pipes for indicators on the other side of the PCB

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/12/2025

@ricci Sadly, I couldn't see the ksltv video, perhaps because I'm using Firefox on Linux. But I've long been fanatical about having the right keyboard. I am lucky to have found one off-the-shelf that I like (Drop CTRL, original and v2), but I've built some of […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Reverse side of custom desk calculator keyboard. The very bottom PCB, black with no traces, is not present, so that the bottom of the main PCB can be seen.

Custom desk calculator keyboard, with relegendable keycaps but no legends installed, and a black PCB bezel

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2025

So, will tomorrow's news be that over 1,000 HHS workers are fired?

USA Today headline:
More than 1,000 HHS
workers demand RFK Jr.
resigns

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2025

This is supposed to be the future. Where's that upscale, happening Taco Bell from Demolition Man?

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2025

Since the official 2048 app added undo, it's less frustrating, but now it's just tedious. Without undo, I had once gotten to a 16384 and a 4096. With undo, even though it's only a single step undo, I could probably play until it becomes literally impossible.

A game of 2048, with a 32768 tile in the lower left corner, and various others.

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🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑 @brouhaha.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2025

NP34 calculator made by Chris Chung, based on my Nonpareil microcode-level simulator for HP calculators, showing sin(60⁰)

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